FIG. 1 illustrates the major operative components of a common home or office paper stapler 100 (such as a "711" or "747" Swingline-TM stapler, or staplers from other manufacturers), which include:
a magazine (or lower housing) 102 having two side parts 102a and 102b and a front part 102c; PA1 a rail (or staple holder) 104, within the lower housing 102, supporting a plurality of staples 106; PA1 a follower (staple mover) 108, within the housing for urging the staples 106 forward, towards the front of the housing; PA1 a cap (upper housing) 112 hinged (at the rear, not shown) to the lower housing 102; and PA1 a staple-driver (blade) 110 in the cap 112 that pushes the frontmost staple downward (as viewed) out of a discharge opening (not shown) in the bottom of the front end 102c of the lower housing (so that the staple pierces papers and is formed by an anvil, not shown) when the cap 112 is pushed downward (as viewed).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,428, incorporated by reference herein, is an example of a typical prior art stapler, to which the present invention is applicable.
A typical home/office stapler will hold up to 50-100 staples in the magazine. However, in use, it is extremely frustrating to the user when there are no staples left, when the user is trying to staple sheets together. In some cases, the stapler will not perform well when there are only a few (e.g., 5-10) staples left in the magazine. This requires finding more staples to load into the magazine, and loading them, just when all the user wants to do is staple.
To the end of indicating that there are relatively few staples left in the magazine, it is known to provide a view hole 120 in one or both sides of the magazine. In this manner, the user can supposedly observe that there are at least a certain number of staples (106) in the magazine, by viewing them through the opening (120), and can supposedly ascertain when the follower 108 has advanced as far as the opening. In FIG. 1, the front of the follower 108 is shown supposedly viewable through an elongated opening 120, in a color contrasting with the color of last of the staples 106. In practice, this whole concept is very hypothetical, since the view hole (e.g., 120) is not viewable at all from the front of the stapler, and from the side requires a keen observer to notice that the staples are running out. In other words, providing a view hole is relatively unergonomic and easily unnoticeable, and is totally useless for people with impaired vision. Further, there is no tactile cue provided indicating to the user that the stapler is low on staples.